Her youngest son survived the fire because he was at his dad's house, who knew nothing of the pending neglect allegations.

"He's my miracle baby," father Wilfredo Belen said.

Little Wilfredo was born three months premature and still suffers from respiratory problems, which is why he was with his dad Thursday instead of at his mom's house. His asthma was acting up.

"She was supposed to take him back on Wednesday night, but I told her I was going to keep him for another day," Belen said.

Friday morning, Belen got a call from social services to tell him Wilfredo's siblings were dead.

"I just couldn't believe it. I was distraught. They were my stepkids. I love them. They're not here anymore," Belen said.

WISN 12 News obtained a criminal complaint that charged the mother with six counts of child neglect.

Prosecutors said a social worker had an appointment to check on the kids in February and watched the mom get out of the car with her 5-year-old daughter, Nayeli, and go into the house. The social worker said 4-year-old twins Adrian and Alex were home alone with baby Wilfredo.

Two weeks later, in March, police were called to a Michael's store. A shopper spotted the 4-year-olds running around in the parking lot. Another shopper spotted a car with the door open with Wilfredo crying inside. Belen said he knew nothing about those incidents.

"I don't know why I wasn't told that all this was going on and as to why, after the incident, she still had the kids, I have no idea," Belen said.

WISN 12 News took those questions to the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare.

"I'm looking for someone to explain how these kids remain in this woman's custody given this criminal complaint," Henry said.

"I'll have them call you," a child welfare worker said.

Child Welfare sent a statement saying it had no comment while it undertakes an official assessment of the case.

Belen said those kids deserved better. He said the twins had health problems and needed extra attention.

"The twins were special-needs. One of them had cerebral palsy, and the other was autistic, but they were the greatest kids ever," Belen said.

He is in the process of divorcing the children's mom and said police told him she was in custody after the fire.

She's also scheduled to appear in court next month to answer to the six child neglect charges.

Copyright 2013 byWISN.comAll rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.